Zero

The Biography of A Dangerous Idea

The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Christian Church used it to fend off heretics. Seife, a US correspondent for the international magazine New Scientist, follows the number zero from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe and its apotheosis as the mystery of a black hole. He describes the work and thought of scholars, mystics, and cosmologists as they battled over the meaning of this mysterious number.

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Great read, mathematics, history, humor. Just fine for the non-mathematician. It is a history of the number zero and the ideas behind it. They are large ideas that have had a big impact on culture that usually take backstage to our everyday use of the number. What a joy it is to read an accomplished mathematician who engages with history and culture, who can explain his profession to a broad audience. I highly recommend this short, fun read.